This is just a quick link, but I like what Gus Van Horn has to say about misconceptions regarding Ayn Rand. This is an important issue to consider since it's a significant barrier to initiating philosophical change in the culture.
Mr. Horn doesn't talk about what he thinks the biggest misconceptions are, but rather what the biggest causes to those misconceptions are. To summarize, Mr. Horn believes that the two biggest causes are: 1.) People that often dwell on fabricated interpretations rather than the actual content of Rand's ideas and that 2.) some people believe that Objectivism is an "open" system which is editable by anyone (thereby allow people to put words in Rand's mouth).
I haven't given too much thought to the cultural response to Rand's ideas, but, as far as I've gone, I've been intrigued at how people just don't seem to be willing to debate Rand's ideas for what they are; instead they get dismissed right out of hand or turned into something they aren't. Give the article a read.
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